Consequence
by Rose-Lycoris
Summary: How many lives has the Zero Reverse changed? A girl slowly writes a journal that mighe give an idea. For the better or worse...that's for you to decide. Progressive Yusei x OC
1. End of the Rainbow

**I don't own Yu-Gi-oh 5Ds. I am just an insignificant author who likes making stuff up.**

**Warning: Much improvising. I haven't actually watched every single episode of 5Ds, so there will probably be a lot of differences. However, I do know enough to build the basic plotline.**

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_This? This is not my story._

_This is the only way I can preserve these memories. This is also the only way to remind myself that, yes, it had happened, and the consequences will continue to haunt us for the remainder of our lives._

_I should introduce myself. My name is Rhianna _. I'm not very well known to the world, but that's hardly surprising, I suppose, since there isn't a lot of famous people in comparison to the entire population. I hope that by letting you read this, you'll be able to know the true story behind the Zero Reverse Incident. It was a moment that changed many lives, including mine._

_It all began years ago; perhaps a little while before I was born. I am sure that many of you will know about the Zero Reverse, as it was the incident that split New Domino into two; one half is now called Satellite, and its inhabitants can only salvage what they can to make sure they can eat. My best friend was originally from Satellite. She was a tough and merciless person, presumably from what she had gone through in such a harsh environment. It was these qualities that allowed her to survive. _

But I believe that back in her Duel Gang days, she was an energetic individual that would do all she could to keep her comrades safe, as that was how she was, when I met her. She was unpredictable at times, and she would certainly be grinning like a psychopath if she were here now. I wonder if we would be able to see her again anytime soon.

_It wasn't very long after the victory of Yusei Fudo over the (former) Duel King, Jack Atlas, when the trouble started. Of course, there were many who did not like it, claiming he had cheated. That was to be expected, of course, but what shocked me was how well he took it. In fact, he seemed to not care at all what the crowd thought of him._

_I suppose I shall give a little bit of my best friend's history, as I am fairly sure she would've wanted me to. She was part of a Duel Gang called 'Team Colours' that composed only of girls, and were disbanded rather quickly. They managed to capture a rather large section of Satellite through what everyone would've called 'Dumb luck', and she only stayed in the group because they could only rely on each other to survive. _

_It started a little after their final victory..._

A group of girls wandered back from their latest victory over another rival Duel Team, The Morphtronic Magicians. Turf duels like this became frequent lately, though only a few know why. A tall, young woman with black hair slapped a map on a nearby pillar and marked a small 'x' on a small corner with a marker pen.

"Right, so that's the harbour area secured, ladies."

"Alright!"

"Yeah!"

"Ayumi," said a girl with short, spiky hair. "What's the plan now?"  
"We could go and beat up those punks from Team Aqua," said another, punching her right fist into her left palm. "Then we can start to dominate the entire south-western area."

"But there's no need for that though. We just need enough ground to keep us safe from The Enforcers," replied the spiky-haired one, sounding half-annoyed.

"Then we can beat them up first! They've already dominated Old Man Komoma's turf up in the east…" said the other girl, making some violent gestures and pointing forcefully at the map. "We can capture them! See this old scrap here…"

"No!" The woman's voice was stern. "I agree with Mizuki. All we need is to keep our ground and our skills sharp. There is no need for us to expand our territory; it's safe."

The 'for now' was unsaid, but ever team member could hear it. The more rebellious member of Team Colour snorted. "Just because we're not as good at duelling as they are, doesn't mean we're total weaklings…"

"And not everybody is as good at kicking butt as you, Haru-kun."

"Don't call me that. I'm not even born in spring!"

"Makes it even more fun," smiled Mizuki serenely, earning a few giggles from the audience. "But then again, Fuyu isn't really a great name…"

"Matches the hair!" Piped Hana, fiddling with the dirty pink felt padding on her duel disk. "Saehara Fuyu! I can see it already. Don't ya think so, Hio-san?"

"…not really…"

"Hey!" Saehara stomped towards Hana and pulled her into a head-lock. "Just because my hair's white!"

"Just like the Enforcers' leader!" Squeaked Hana.

"Maybe we should kidnap the guy and replace him with Sae…" mused Hio. "We might have a slight chance of winning then."

"What if they take me back with them and then I'll end up sleeping with a bunch of adolescent guys? Yeah, like, that'll work."

"Escape in the middle of the night," said Momoko.

"You can't wake Sae up even with a tap-dancing elephant. Remember the time when we had to drag Haru all the way to the old Underground Station at two in the morning when Securities were after us?" Mizuki replied.

"Ah, yes. Good old times."

"What do you mean, 'Good old times'? Momoko-san almost got caught! Remember?"

The white-haired girl pouted. "You're no fun."

"It's getting late," said Momoko, checking her watch. "We should be getting back soon, Hana. Your grandpa's going get worried if you don't come home soon."

"Oh, you're right!"

"Bye, Hana!"

"Take care!"

"Remember to give back my Solemn Wishes tomorrow!"

"And don't go flirting again!"

Hana laughed. "I won't!"

_According to the other members of Team Colour, that was when everything went downhill._

Mizuki climbed up the tallest place she knew; the rusted satellite dish in the abandoned construction site. She took a good look around; the sunset was giving everything a warm tint, even the sea was tainted with blotches of orange and red. She had the best friends in the world, she thought, and she was grateful, even though a few of them can be a bunch of bums.

"Oi, this is my special place."

Mizuki turned around. "Haru!"

"Ugh…again, stop calling me that. I told you, you can call me Sae," said Sae. "Everyone does, except you."

"Yeah, but still…"

Mizuki took a good look at her most trusted ally in Team Colour. Battered trainers, ripped jeans, torn team jacket and hair that was undoubtedly unbrushed for at least a couple of weeks. Sae was notorious for being a non-hair brusher (and takes great pride in it, too), as well as the best duellist in the team; not like it said anything, since they really won that territory through a lot of blackmail. But it did make Mizuki a bit more self-aware, and silently reminded herself to work on duelling a bit more in the future. Sae sat down, and pulled Mizuki down with her.

"I wonder what will happen to us tomorrow."

Mizuki blinked. "What do you mean?"

"You'd probably tell me to stop being so pessimistic, but…" Sae sighed and ran her hand through her hair; a sign that usually meant Sae was actually thinking about something. "…I keep on thinking that tomorrow something bad is going to happen. It's really stupid….but I just keep hoping that everyday stays the same…" Sae murmured. "…you know?"

Not really, but Mizuki knew better than to say something back. Sae was the kind of person that would either brood over thing too much or charge head-first into something; most commonly the latter. It's been like that for a while, ever since she lost her Swiss army knife. It was from her deceased father, and from then she hadn't been the same.

Sae was a loner. After their weekly meeting Sae seems to drops off the face of the earth, like she never existed at all; only Mizuki knew where she had gone, here at the huge satellite dish and doing all sorts of acrobatic tricks that defied gravity. And she wished that somehow, Sae would be her partner, even for just a day. She knew too little about her. Mizuki leaned back and let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding.

Then she turned her head towards Sae was. Sae had vanished again, presumably to go back to wherever she stayed. Then she climbed down herself. When she took the final step down, she noticed a piece of new paper, with a challenge on it.

The Team Colour member reading this; 

We will come to claim our territory on Wednesday. Be Ready.

The Enforcers.

_The turf battle took place on the following Wednesday. Team Colour, knowing that the opposition were formidable opponents, trained as hard as they could under the watchful eye of Hana's grandfather, who knew a few tricks in duelling. _

"Well…this is it."

Team Colour stood in the central storage room; their main base. Mizuki was fidgeting with her fingernails, Hana was pulling at their jumper, Sae was rubbing at the tip of her nose, Hio was twirling a lock of dirty blonde hair, and Momoko stood calmly, though her facial expression betrayed her.

"It doesn't matter whether we win or lose, guys," she said, "As long as we remain friends in the end. We'll be Team Colour forever!"

"We could've come up with a less retarded name," Sae shot back, "Seriously, Team Colour."

"Glad to know I'm a retard," muttered Hio to Hana, who giggled.

"Well, I'm going," said Sae, turning and drawing an abnormally large number of weapons from a nearby cupboard and vaulted off a huge metal box. "See you."

The other members nodded and took off in their own directions, with Mizuki being the last to go. She wasn't in any hurry at all. She knew that they would lose, and they would not enjoy it. She sighed stiffly and tried to calm herself, even just a little.

"So you're from Team Colour?"

Mizuki spun around and came face-to-face with a boy with black highlighted hair that stood up in random directions. He was tall, and had blue eyes. The youth whipped out his left arm, revealing a duel disk.

Oh god no…already…? Well…here goes something, I guess…thought Mizuki.

"What's your name?" She asked. Her opponent observed her briefly before telling her his.

"Yusei."

Oh…travelling star, huh? Pretty cool.

**Mizuki-Yusei**

**4000-4000**

"I'll start us off!" She drew her first hand. Mostly monsters. Good. "I summon Gene-warped Werewolf in Attack mode (ATK 2000)! End turn!"

**Mizuki-Yusei**

**4000-4000**

"I draw. I set a monster, and place two cards face down. End turn."

Seriously, what's with this guy? He's probably shy, serious, stupid or monosyllabic. He's only spoken eight syllables outside of the duel.

**Mizuki-Yusei**

**4000-4000**

"I draw! And I summon my second Gene-warped Werewolf (ATK 2000)! And now I attack your facedown!"

Maybe I can K-O him in the next round…

"Activate Trap!" Yusei cried, and one of the face-downs flipped up to reveal a familiar purple-bordered card.

Oh, bugger.

"Mirror Force! When my opponent attacks, I can destroy all of her monsters that are in face-up attack position!"

In response to the card's activation, the two monsters shattered, leaving Mizuki's field open. Yusei smiled slightly. "You're too rushed in your duelling. Slow down a little."

"Oh…thanks." She was becoming seriously depressed. Her opponent just destroyed two of the most powerful monsters in her deck and was tutoring her at the same time. What would Sae have done?

"I would've placed that card face down," Said Sae, coming out of nowhere and taking Mizuki's Duel disk. "Mind if I take over?"

"Not really."

"Good."

Sae took Mizuki's hand and took a brief glance. They weren't bad, but they needed to be completely re-adjusted to suit her style of play. "The name's Sae," she called, and slapped a card on to the disk. "I place a card face-sown, and activate a spell, Re-load! This lets me put all the cards in my hand into the deck, shuffle, and draw the same number of cards that was in my hand!" After that was done, she placed two cards face-down. "End turn!"

**Sae-Yusei**

**4000-4000**

"Draw!"

Yusei paused a bit and analysed his opponent carefully. This one knew what she was doing, and was using a different style. But the fact that she was using a different deck may give him a slight advantage. "I summon Speed Warrior in Attack mode (ATK 900)! And I activate its effect! I can double its attack points the turn it's normal summoned (Speed Warrior: ATK 1800)! And now, I attack directly!"

"In your dreams! Activate trap, Negate Attack! I can negate the attack and end the battle phase!"

Nothing else to do but "I place a card face down and end my turn."

**Sae-Yusei**

**4000-4000**

"Draw! First, I summon Chiron the mage, in attack mode (ATK 1800)! Then I'll activate its effect! By discarding one magic card from my hand I can destroy one spell or trap!" Sae put Mizuki's Lightning Vortex in the Graveyard and thrust a finger at the face-down on the right hand side. "I choose that one!"

Scrap-Iron Scarecrow lifted up in a brief second before disappearing. Sae gave a triumphant smirk and played the next card. "I play equip spell, Black Pendant! It raises my monster's attack by 500 points (Chiron the Mage: ATK 2300)! And now! I attack your Speed Warrior!"

"Activate trap, Scrap-Iron Scarecrow! I can negate the attack of one of your monsters…"

"Chain! Activate trap, Dark Bribe! I negate the activation of a spell or trap, and I can destroy it! Say goodbye to your Scarecrow!"

Yusei's Scrap-Iron Scarecrow shattered, and his Speed Warrior completely disintegrated in Chiron's attack, dealing him 1400 point's worth of damage. His face-down monster was flipped up to reveal Shield Wing, which needs to be attacked two times before the third finishes it off. But now both his Scrap-Iron Scarecrows were gone. He won't be able to negate attacks that easily anymore.

And Sae was just simply annoyed. Shield Wing was probably one of the most infuriating monsters to play against (Not nearly as annoying as Marshmellon, admittedly). Mizuki, who was standing in the background, had no clue what was going on, but Sae seemed to have the upper hand. Sae was unbeatable!

**Sae-Yusei**

**4000-2600**

"I draw! I summon Junk Synchron, in attack mode! Its effect allows me to summon a level two or lower monster from my graveyard, negating its effect. I choose Speed Warrior!" Yusei slid his hand over to his extra deck. Sae stared. No, he couldn't have…

"Clustering stars will call upon a new force!" He cried, "Become the path its light shines upon! I Synchro Summon; Junk Warrior (ATK 2300)!"

"Crap…!" Sae cursed. _I should've kept my Lightning Vortex…but it's fine. As long as Chiron remains on the field, he can't hurt me other than destroying his Junk Warrior along with it…_

"I place a card face-down. End turn."

**Sae-Yusei**

**4000-2600**

Sae drew a card. Her eyelid twitched slightly at the result; and laughed madly.

"I forgot completely about this card! Damn, Mizuki, your constant card-stealing from me has actually come to good use!"

Mizuki glared. "Don't diss."

"Fine fine…I won't… I summon Enraged Battle Ox (ATK 1700) and I'll attack your Shield Wing with both my monsters, since its effect allows piercing damage (your monster's ATK is higher than opponent's DEF, and deals the difference as battle damage) if there is another beast-warrior, beast, or winged beast type monster on my side of the field! It looks like I win! Chiron! Enraged Battle Ox! Attack Shield Wing!"

Both monsters obeyed the command and charged at Shield Wing. Yusei closed his eyes. The face-down was Graceful Revival. He won't need it any more. He would lose this one. He groaned slightly when the damage got to him; it was over.

**Sae-Yusei**

**4000-0**

"Looks like you won." Said Yusei, holding out his hand for them to shake. They accepted it – Sae very reluctantly- and parted. Sae sighed happily and gave back Mizuki her Duel Disk.

"I haven't had as much fun as that in a while."

"It shows me I certainly have room for improvement," replied Mizuki, "You won the duel in about five turns after you showed up..."

"Yeah, but he was tough. If it was any other card-give it about a 35:1 chance- I would've lost. I saw the card he had face-down while you were shaking hands with him."

_Graceful Revival would've summoned one of those low-leveled monsters back from the grave and he would've gained an extra hunk of ATK points,_Sae thought, _and he would've destroyed my monsters easily. If we subtracted a 500 life points from his life points due to Black Pendant's effect, that would still leave him enough turns to finish it. Damn…_

"…by the way, did you run into any other Enforcers?" Asked Mizuki.

"Huh? Oh yeah..." Sae answered, "One blonde whose ego is bigger than Hio's hair after the hairdryer incident. Bloody git."

"…that's nice…did you win?"

Sae kicked down some iron doors that lead to the outside. "Barely, by about 100 life-points. I'm just glad I had Final Countdown on my first draw." _And Solemn Wishes too._

"So that means…we've beat the Enforcers!" Mizuki squeaked, "That's great!"

"Correction, we've lost."

"Eh?"

"Momoko and Hio were duelling against the leader and Hana another one of them, dude with spiky orange hair. They lost." Sae grumbled. "We've gotta split now."

_The Enforcers claimed the Harbour as part of their turf, while Team Colour gradually became adjusted to their new environment. Sae, apparently, became infatuated with skating right after their defeat, and nobody knew where she went after that. Mizuki and the others started living in an old warehouse, though they constantly visited Hana and her grandfather. _

"…It's been one year, hasn't it?"

Mizuki and Hio were standing on the pier, looking out. They were gazing on the old satellite dish that Sae used to be at, and wondering how everyone was doing. Hio started flicking random small pieces of gravel. "Think they can make it to the reunion?"

"Hope so," Said Mizuki, but she was certain Sae wouldn't show up.

She was right.

Sae was ushered into a small van along with some others, most of them shady-looking individuals that were staring unsubtly at the only female person in the confinement space. She gagged.

_They'll make great roomies__, _she thought sarcastically as an old man wearing dirty shades of yellow started looking her up and down.

"…you don't have any curves, do you?"

_Ignore him, Sae, just ignore him…probably just some perverted old geezer that I would probably never see again…_

"What's your name?"

"S…Haruhi," Said Sae, annoyed. _When in doubt…blatantly lie. That's what you get for not asking me to tell you the full truth._

"Why are you in here?"

"To rip off your head and feed it to Man Eater Bug."

"Ooh, that's a scary thought…" the old man shivered, then went back to his cheery self. "What's your favourite card?"

"...Not telling."

"Hey. Look!" Cackled a beefy man with multiple criminal marks, "Yanagi's hitting on a little girl!"

"Aww…" laughed the others, "We'd like a go too!"

"Try it, Shitheads," was the reply.

"Woo, a feisty one!"

The entire trip composed of conversations like those, plus a couple of fights and a few attempts of hitting on Sae (though they all ended miserably). Sae found that the old guy called Yanagi was actually pretty knowledgeable, despite the lack of common sense. After a few hours, they stopped.

"Alright, you bastards, hurry it up."

She looked up. An intimidating, flawless steel structure, lined with massive search-lights that glared menacingly at them. The atmosphere was heavy with despair, hatred, sorrow, self-pity and hopelessness, and each step became more and more painful as it became evident that they won't be free; caged like a bird, with no escape other than death. A guard came over and scanned the jagged gold line that stretched down her cheek from her left eye.

"Saehara Haru, age 17, Illegal Duelling and other Unlawful Leisure Methods. Well, little missy, you won't be getting out any time soon, I can assure you," he said, and shoved her into the gate. "Hirou, take the lass to a cell."

"Preferably an empty one," Sae added. "Or at least with somebody the same gender that isn't a serial killer."

"Don't get cocky, girl. You take whatever room you get."

They marched to a cell that was, thankfully, empty. Sae flopped down on a bunk and winced. The mattress was as hard as bricks. She stood up and went to the bathroom to wash her face. But the real reason was to look at herself again in the mirror, not because she had to resign to the fact that she would be sleeping on a bed about the same softness of a huge stone slab.

The same face; a pair of sharp blue eyes, large mouth, large but angled ears and the mop of white mess on the top of her head, but the criminal mark would need some getting used to. She traced it with her left hand, and winced again when a sharp fingernail scratched her skin. Down, right, down, left, down and down diagonally right it went, until it reached the bottom of her face. How long would it be when she would be allowed out?

She took off her roughed trainers as well as her socks. In her sock were her favourite cards; Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier and Raging Flame Sprite. She looked around, made sure that nobody was looking and stuffed them gently into her underclothes. As soon as she did that, she let out a sigh of relief.

They were safe, for now.

_Each day started the same. Each inmate would wake up at about six for a head-count, then a breakfast that had the same texture of fresh cement, and then they are lead back to their cells till lunchtime, when they would be able to communicate with other inmates, only to be confined again afterwards. _

_The Chief of the Facility was a terrifying man, who was not afraid to use violence in his favour, and had no mercy to either his prisoners or his associates. Many of the prisoners commented harshly on him, and I do not blame them for doing so. _

"Oi, guard!"

A guard marched indignantly over to Sae's cell, a bit angry that he would be getting less of a lunch break.

"I was told I would be released eight months ago! Why the hell am I not being released?"

"Chief Armstrong hasn't been informed of your release," replied the guard, turning his back and leaving, with Sae drooping helplessly on the cell bars.

Eight months. Eight months, and still no sign of her leaving any time soon. She kicked the iron door irritably and twitched at the multiple bruises on her foot that resulted from many similar 'pastimes'. Why, she screamed mentally, why the _hell does the door have to be so bloody _hard? _I spend far too much time doing this,_ she thought, eying the several insignificant dents in the three-inch steel. _But it's not like I have any other things to do..._

"Lunch break! If you want to get your share of grub, you'd better go quick!" A guard banged on each cell door with a large metal pole. "Hurry it up!"

Ah well, might as well make the most of it.

She walked past Yanagi who was busy acting out the legend of the Crimson Dragon solo to an audience of one person, and tried to sneak past him to avoid another fantasy story; however, he saw her, dragged her down on to a seat and announced that he would be the narrator to this 'epic tale'. Sae leaned her head back and only took in a few words of each sentence.

"…and thus, the Crimson Dragon…"

"…Signers…embodiment…"

"…Underworld…darkness, and the Dark Signers…"

"…Heroes… saved the world..."

"..Very enlightening," said Sae, who really had no clue what he went on about.

"Yes…" chimes Yanagi, and hopped over to the other person who bothered to listen and patted him on the shoulder. "But I've finally met a signer!"

"Oh, really?"

"Oh, yes! See, that boy-"he pointed down a level "-with the blue jacket!"

"There's plenty of guys here with blue jackets, Yanagi…" Sae tapped her fingers against the wall impatiently. "I may have all the time in the world to waste, but it's not fun, I swear."

"You won't be disappointed, I know," said Yanagi, grinning. "Hey there, Yusei! Up here...Hey, don't ignore me!" he leapt down the table and chased after the guy. "Wait up!"

_And so, the wonderful Yanagi-sensei goes off to chase some weirdo who really is a prick with a stick up his ass and an almighty ego-indulged self. _Sae thought. Yanagi came back dragging a flustered man that looked like he would've preferred to be anywhere but there.

"This is Yusei, the Signer!" Yanagi chimed, and pulled him towards Sae. "And this is…er…what is your name again?"

Sae's head gained an extra pulsing vein, and she resisted the temptation to punch him hard in the face. "Sae, like I told you about fifty times last week!"

At the name Sae, the youth looked up. He blinked.

"…do I know you…?"

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**Like it? Hate it? Want it to be torn into little pieces? Please tell me what you think!**


	2. The Gingerbread Man

**I don't own Yu-Gi-oh 5Ds. I am just an insignificant author who likes making stuff up.**

**Warning: Much improvising. I haven't actually watched every single episode of 5Ds, so there will probably be a lot of differences. However, I do know enough to build the basic plotline.**

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_Sae's head gained an extra pulsing vein, and she resisted the temptation to punch him hard in the face. "Sae, like I told you about fifty times last week!"_

_At the name Sae, the youth looked up. He blinked._

_"…Do I know you…?"_

* * *

"The name's Saehara Haru, but them lot call me Sae. Resident only-female-inmate-that-was-ever-arrested-for-playing-a-card-game." Sae rubbed at the tip of her nose irritably. "Securities pretty much arrest anybody they see playing Duel Monsters these days."

Yanagi leapt enthusiastically on to a nearby table. "I was just telling Haruhi about your previous life's exploits…"

"MY NAME IS NOT HARUHI! Honestly, you can remember every single one of my _fake _names, and yet never remember my real one! That has got to be a miracle, "She muttered, painfully aware that the fact will not change in the near future.

"But you told me your name is Haruhi!"

"Oh for the love of…" Sae gripped her mug so hard the handle cracked a little under the pressure. "That was a _lie_! And a very blatant one too, if I may add!"

"Ooh…so…what are you _really _called then?"

"I'm not telling you _again _just so you can forget it later!"

"You two," the man said, "stop it."

That wasn't a request.

"So…" Sae slowly tore off the rusted pin that bound back her hair. Eight months in this goddamned place had let her hair grow all over the place, and she tied it back-very messily- to avoid it going into her weak tea.

"Fudo Yusei," he replied. "I'm from Satellite."

"Oh, same!" Sae squeaked, and held out her palm. "Gimme a high-five!"

"…Okay…?"

_The two of them became friendly acquaintances in the Facility, and soon discovered that the Chief of the Facility had no intention of releasing any of the prisoners in his 'care'. He has abused his authorities in so many different ways that it would be extremely difficult to list them all. _

_Now, the reason that Yusei and Sae were not friends was they were far too different. Yusei was an honourable person who respected everybody, but Sae was someone who had no real morals besides 'Thou shall not kill'. She was kind of like those masters-less samurai from feudal Japan, only doing things that suited her. _

"…Sae. Come here."

"Yusei?" Sae went over. "Why are you whispering?"

"So we won't get overheard." He leaned in. "There's an escape plan."

"Really?" Sae's eyes lit up. "When?"

"Tomorrow night, between 8 and 9. My cellmate's got friends who would jam the marker signals."

"That's great!" Sae grinned, and then started going through her hair again. "But…I mean…you're not going to invite Yanagi or Himuro?"

"Of course I am," he said, "I'm not going to abandon them here!"

"You're freakin' crazy, Yusei! We can't all escape together! There's too many of us! And the signal jamming's probably only for one or two people, maybe three…not five!" She hissed, flailing her arms around aimlessly and jabbed Yusei in the forehead with her index finger with each syllable. "You…them…su-i-ci-dal!"

"I won't leave them behind," He replied firmly.

Sae moaned. "Oh, for the love of card games…"

"It's all or nothing, "said Yusei, walking away. "It's up to you whether you want to escape with another four people."

"I won't," said Sae. "I'm not gonna risk my skin for another five years."

Yusei nodded. He expected that kind of answer. "At least tell them what's going on. I don't want them to miss out on this opportunity."

Sae raised an eyebrow. "Why can't you do it yourself?"

"I'm being watched," said Yusei. "It'll be best if we interact with each other as little as possible from now on."

"Watched? By who?"

"Oi, you delinquents!" Yelled a guard, shoving a bulky man into his cell and slamming the door shut. "Get back into your cells! Free-time's over!"

"'Kay, fine, I will!" She screamed silently in the chaos, "Jeez!"

_However, something went wrong…_

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Wha…what's going on?" She tumbled off her rock-hard mattress and stumbled, half-asleep, towards the nearest source of light- outside the cell door. The air was intense and misted by the panic and confusion. She looked around. Every other inmate had their heads sticking out from behind the bars (Or as far as their necks can go, anyway) and each face was nervous. What was going on? Why is everybody staring?

And why…was there so much screaming?

A guard marched nearby and she ducked, waiting for him to pass; he didn't. He stayed outside her cell, head bobbing this way and that, and silencing anybody that dared to raise his voice.

"Great." She muttered. "Now I can't see anything." She clambered up and peeped over the guard's shoulder. She sniffed. Besides the usual stench of the Securities uniform, there was something else…something metallic.

The guard snapped his head around and Sae was too slow to avoid his eyes. He banged hard on her cell door. "Shut up and stop staring!" He snarled menacingly, "Or you'll be the next one punished!"

"Punished for what?" She couldn't help asking.

"Smuggling, now be a good girl and close your mouth." He turned around, annoyed, and continues his watch. She stomped back into the shadows of her confinements and pouted. She knew better than to mess with Securities.

She leaned back on to the 'bed', and looked up at the ceiling. It was painted a light blue, probably as a weak imitation of the sky. The walls were the same colour, and flaked off a little every time she came in contact with it…oh crap. She leaned forward and dusted off her hair. The stuff went all over the place. Outside the screaming still went on, still as hysterical, but much weaker now. The sound travelled into her cell and echoed around before fading away, leaving a ghostly silence.

Something was wrong. Why did someone suddenly become a target of the Chief? Had somebody told him? That there was an escape plan? She had nothing to do with it, but she couldn't help but be concerned.

A person was thrown unceremoniously outside, and she heard the heavy clomping of the guard's boots marching away. Chance! She snuck back to see who the poor victim was.

Himuro's limp form was battered blue and black, and a suspicious red was soaking its way from under his shirt. Sae covered her nose. The air was starting to smell of rusted metal. The spectators were stunned into silence.

"Himuro…"

"Himuro here has committed a serious crime!" Boomed the Chief, "All of you scum will have to take responsibility for it! From now on, every single one of you will be locked inside of your cells, with no time out!" The crowd stirred into protest.

"No way!"

"But that's the same of being in isolated cells…"

"Yeah!"

"Shut your traps!" The Chief sneered, "What are you pieces of shit babbling about? The world will be better off without any one of you! Your kind doesn't have freedom or privileges! All you can do is live your insignificant lives scurrying around in the shadows! If any of you have complaints, then speak up…" He gestured at Himuro, "…I'll make sure you'll end up just like him!"

Bang!

Sae had kicked the cell door again out of frustration and now, she was aware that every pair of eyes were on her. She cursed. Her temper was so hard to control!

"Well girl," Said the Chief, "You have some guts interrupting me like that!"

_That was not smart!_

"Hold it."

Each pair of eyes focused on Yusei. Sae took in a gulp of cold air and almost choked on the stench.

"Nobody in this world is unneeded."

"Eh heh heh heh! So, the Satellite trash is trying to play the hero, is he? "

"Himuro is innocent. He's a genuine duellist; he isn't scheming anything."

"Did you make that remark knowing that Yours Truly is a duellist too?" the Chief sneered, "And what you're saying is; he's genuine, I'm fake! Isn't that right?"

Yusei said nothing.

"Very well! Let's settle the score with a duel then, where everybody can see! If you win, I'll ignore Himuro's crimes just this once and not take away everybody's free time!" He grinned sinisterly, "…but what if you lose?"

"Then I'll be at your mercy for the rest of my life."

"Idiot!" Sae hissed. What was he thinking? Where was he going to get the cards from? Yanagi?

"Interesting. At half-past eight tonight, we duel!"

"Fine by me…"

"Hey, hey, please! Stop it, please stop it…!"

Two guards, each holding one of Yanagi's arms, marched forward dragging the sobbing old man with them. Sae groaned softly. "Here's one!" Said one of the guards, reaching down Yanagi's robe and pulling out a card.

"Here's another one!" The other took one that was under his jacket.

"And here!" From his boot.

"And here!" Inside his shirt.

"There's one!" Another from his sleeves. Yanagi whimpered pitifully every time a card was taken, till one of his favourites was found. "Please! Give them back! Give them back to me! They're my precious treasure…"

Slap! Yanagi went skidding and landed in an undignified heap on the floor while the Chief held his cards up. "Listen up! I'm confiscating this deck; this'll be your last moments of free time…" he sniggered, "…use it well, with no regrets!"

"Oh no…"

"What'll I tell my parents?"

The welcoming sound of the door unlocking for the last time Sae remembered. She raced towards the two limp men, and she saw that Yusei was not too far behind. He caught up with her in a few seconds. Sae stopped grabbed his collar angrily. "You are the worst blimmin' idiot I've ever seen in my life! They've taken Yanagi's cards, and when they beat up Himuro they must've searched him too! If they found his cards, what'll you duel with?"

Yusei stared and deflated slightly. "…I never thought of that…"

"'Course you didn't! Argh, Men!" She dragged him by his jacket towards the other two's cell. "Oi, you two!" Sae yelled into their backs, "You okay?"

"Gnn…yeah…" Grunted Himuro, with his supporters gingerly helping him to sit up straight, "But this'll leave a mark in the morning. Sorry Yusei," he said, turning towards him, "They took my cards."

"Mine too," Sighed Yanagi. "We're in a fine mess now…"

"You'll be a little more than a joke," said Yusei's roommate. "Why don't we just escape by ourselves?"

"I can't just abandon my friends, "said Yusei, "No matter how much it would cost if I lose. Right now, friendship is the only thing we have that keeps us together."

"Argh! You stubborn fool!" Said his roommate. "Fine! Do what you want! I'll just go by myself! Bloody hell…"

"I'll come!" Yelled Sae. "Show it to me!"

"Fine. Come, it's this way."

_The secret escape passage was inside Yusei's cell. It was a small, narrow passage, entwined with several pipes, and it lead directly to a skylight near the exit. Although, since that the security would be more severe from then, it was either all…or nothing._

"I have a question," said Sae, "Won't things be slightly awkward if a girl snuck into two guys' room in the dead of night?"

"You could pretend to be my girlfriend," Suggested Aoyama.

THWAK!

"More like girl_fiend,_" Muttered Aoyama, rubbing his bruised head gingerly. "But that's a good point. We could hide you in our room till the time comes."

"They'll get suspicious if they don't see me going back into my cell…hmm?"

A bunch of shady characters were ganging up on Yusei. Sae narrowed her eyes and clambered on the nearest rail that looked down.

"Back in a second."

"…Yusei, right?" Said one, cracking his knuckles. "We'd like a little chat about earlier."

"We're grateful for you willing to give up your freedom for ours."

"Yeah!" Said another prisoner, "Real noble. But the thing is that you don't have any cards…" He cracked his knuckles also.

"Well…" Sighed Aoyama, snapping Sae's attention back to the present; "It'll make things a lot more difficult for us as long as you're still female…"

"AHA!"

"What?"

Sae grinned.

_Later that afternoon…_

Beep! Beep!

Ka-chak!

Yusei was dragged out of his cell by two guards, with Aoyama giving him a disgusted look behind. Sae was nowhere to be seen. Everybody else was staring at him intensely, including the Chief. But unlike everybody else, he carried an air of superiority.

"So you made it after all, punk!" He sneered. "But since you don't have any cards, I win by default! Ah hah hah hah!"

"You want cards?" Said Yusei calmly, "Then I've got cards!" He whipped a deck from his jacket. The Chief was dumbfounded. "Wha…how? Where did you get these from?"

"You don't know how precious a card could be to a duellist!" Roared Yusei, eyes blazing as he gripped the deck firmly. _All their hopes…all their dreams…_ he thought, …_are riding on me! I can't fail them!_

The Chief twitched. "Then, it looks I've gotta beat you fair and square in a duel then! You!" He thrusted his finger at two guards, "Get him a duel disk!"

"Sir! Yessir!"

**Chief-Yusei**

**4000-4000**

"I summon Great Phantom Thief in Defence mode (DEF 1000)!" He announced. A deafening roar came from the audience.

"Hey look!" Yelled one, "That's my card!"

"I end my turn," said Yusei.

**Chief-Yusei**

**4000-4000**

_Meanwhile…_

Sae lifted a small tile up. The noise outside was so loud that nobody noticed the small clink of the tile rubbing against the remainder of the cement. She lifted up another and another, until there was a gap on the floor big enough for her to get through.

_Thank God I'm not a guy, _she thought, _or else I would have needed to take away a lot more tiles and make the roof collapse. Jeez, men and their inconveniently broad shoulders…_

She glanced downward. There were no cells underneath, only an isolated guard in between three walls. She grinned again.

Time to get into action.

She slid herself down slowly and landed on her feet. The guard, upon hearing the sound of the landing, turned around swiftly, only to get clobbered over the head by an iron pole. Sae tuned around again, to see if anybody heard the sound of the impact. Everybody was still engrossed in the duel. Good. She recognised the guard. It was the one that shut her up inside her cell every day. Ah, revenge was sweet.

She stripped him, tied him up with her bedsheets and put on the uniform. It was far too big, stank of cigarette smoke and on her it looked like shrivelled elephant skin. The mark was a huge give-away, but if she put on the helmet and hid it with her hair, it was barely noticeable. She shoved the unconscious man behind a pile of rubbish that hadn't been tossed away for three months and sighed, relieved.

She clambered back up into the hole in the ceiling and replaced the tiles gently. Then, she took out the key card and freed herself. Everybody else was too focused on the duel to notice her. She took a brief look back at the duel. At this rate, Yusei would run out of cards before he had his life-points dropped to zero. But there was something wrong. She was sure she heard a scream a few minutes ago. It sounded like Yusei, but she knew him well enough to know that he wasn't the kind to scream often.

_That's enough, Sae. Thee are bigger things to worry about right now…like how to escape!_

She slid inside Aoyama's room with the key card. He looked pretty shocked.

"Wow, Sae. Didn't recognise you for a minute."

"Shut up," She whispered. "Now, c'mon, let's get the hell outta here. But before that…did you give him the card?"  
"Yup. Though it's probably in the Graveyard by now, due to the Chief's monster effects."

"Well, screw it," She sighed. "Lead the way."

_Sae was lead out by Aoyama, and he showed her to his friends, who jammed her signal. However, he suddenly had a change of heart, and decided to remain to help Yusei._

"This is your last chance, Aoyama!" Said one of his friends, "If you get caught, there's gonna be trouble!"

"I know, but…" Aoyama said, before disappearing back into the shadow of the tunnel," I've got to fight for my freedom too, not run away."

"'He who runs lives to fight another day', or something along those lines!" whispered Sae.

"I'm going to help Yusei," said Aoyama firmly.

"Suit yourself," said another. "C'mon, missy. Our place's that way."

"Hold it!"

A few guards climbed towards them, one holding a tracking device. Sae swore. "Where'd you think _you're _going?"

"Crap!" Said one of the friends, "We've been caught!"

Sae took of her helmet and kicked it hard towards the guards, successfully knocking one of them over. She grabbed the other two. "Come on!" She screamed, "Do you wanna live or what?"

The three of them tumbled down and out of the roof relatively unharmed. Now that they have been found, the alarm went off all over the place. Sae grabbed an iron bar and knocked a poor person off their D-wheel, then leapt on it and dragged the other two with her, charging wildly and nearly killing the three of them in the process.

"Do you even know how to steer this thing?" Yelled one over the g-force.

"Nope!" Said Sae, a bit too cheerfully.

They rammed through the remaining security and set of far too many alarms for their liking, earning another horde of angry officers behind them. Sae was driving far too dangerously, with Aoyama's friends clinging for dear life on the grey motorbike screaming at the top of their voices. Then it occurred to Sae that she was going back towards the Facility.

"Sorry, ladies!" She yelled merrily, "Back the other way we go!"

"YOU'RE KIDDING!"

_They made it out eventually; there is no doubt in my mind that at least one of them broke a few bones, however, they were alive, and Sae had her signal jammed._

_But not for long._

_I wonder how bad my criminal record is, _she joked in her mind. She had abandoned the D-wheel after a rather eventful crast and the other two were going to buy her some rollerskates (after much bribing). She rushed into a park and leapt up a tree.

The stars were out. They were a lot clearer than the stars in Satellite; the sky was almost always covered by a thick layer of smog. Now, the onyx sky were glistening beautifully, and only a small patch of light blue showed any evidence that the day had been.

She missed her decks; the one she had first, as well as the one she was building before being gracefully 'escorted' to the Facility. It's just as well shedecided on the theme of her new deck, since it's highly unlikely she would ever get her old one back.

Some security officers were gathering around the tree. She gulped. _Oh please oh please, for the love of Jack Atlas whoever he is but apparantly he's some sort of king so I'll just go along with it..._

"Do you think she's here?" Asked one.

"Probably," said another, "This is where her signal last was."

"Why do we have to track down someone who was released months ago?" the first moaned, "It's only because she hit someone over the head, right? Just give her a telling off and we can go home early."

"Good idea."

Sae breathed out, and only just realised how clammy her hands were. Aoyama's friends were coming out with the new skates.

"We must take her to be marked first," said the last, "We can't just let her get off scot-free. Hey, you two! You were with her, weren't you?"

"Oh shoot!"

"We've been caught!"

Sae leapt over the officers gracefully and grabbed the skates from the two. She put them on hastily and left them back in the park, dumbfounded.

"What are you doing?" said the officer, "She's getting away!" He shoved them all on their D-wheels and chased after Sae, while the two friends took that oppertunity to run away. "Get her!"

_They could only try._

Sae's loud, clear voice rang through the night, calling out to all nightlife that dared to fly with her. The freedom and the feeling of the wind was what made her start skating. On wheels, she could really fly.

She shot up a wall and leapt from rooftop to rooftop, with her hair being tossed by the winds. People disturbed by the sirens came out to look, but they could only see a wingless silhuette against the moon laughing at those that were still bound to the ground.

"She's too fast!" Screamed a guard over the wind, "We can't catch up!"

"How's that posible? She's only on skates!"

"I'm faster on wheels than anything else!" Yelled Sae, delighted. "No-one can catch me!"

But the feeling on D-wheels; they were better than even skates. As she soared, the thought of that old Securities D-wheel nagged at her, pushing her to feel the wind again. It was not nearly as exciting or as free as the sky, but it felt safer, more comforting. And besides, you can't duel on skates.

_Should I...try Turbo Duelling...?_

* * *

**Like it? Hate it? Want it to be torn into little pieces? Please tell me what you think!**

**A/N: For Rua and Ruka, I have opted to use their english dub names because I am actually more familiar with them. Sorry for any inconvenience in reading.**

**Omake!**

"I sure hope you're not planning a sex-change operation," said Aoyama. "That would really complicate things."

"Aw, shut up! Besides, there's no way that I would want to! Skin graft on my face here, yes!" She pointed at her mark. "Get automail limbs! Maybe! But sex-change operation, definitely not! God," she screamed, "Why am I surrounded by a bunch of perverted weirdoes!"

"Then how are you planning to change your gender?" Asked Aoyama.

"_I DID NOT PLAN TO CHANGE MY GENDER_!"

"You certainly implied it about halfway through the chapter."

"What I was meaning was, I was going to _MAKE_ myself _LOOK_ like a man!"

"Ooh!" Said Aoyama, an imaginary light-bulb lighting above his head. "Like that Shakespeare story! Much to do about Nothing!"

Sae slapped her forehead. "It's Twelfth Night, dumbass."

"So…are you gonna bind your chest or something?"

"_Yes,_" Sae seethed. "Now we're finally getting somewhere."

"What about," said Aoyama, "If you stuffed something down your trousers so it'll look like you've got balls..."

"_I'm leaving!" _Screamed Sae.


End file.
